LIGHT UP | Finlay:从美国到中国，从宾大到北大，我遇到了她

光华MBA

Finlay Mungall

北大光华MBA2008级校友

现居：Washington.DC

职位:Sr. Business Advisor

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, Federal Aviation Administration

【Slide The Title To Read The English Version】

Q.1 请简单介绍一下你自己？

Please briefly introduce yourself.

嗨，我来自美国德克萨斯州，但在佛罗里达州Panama City念的高中。高中阶段我通过努力学习成为一名雄鹰童子军，之后我考上了宾夕法尼亚大学。当时，我选择学习金融，想进入华尔街工作。但后来发现纽约并不适合我。在读书的时候，我们有一门外语学分的要求，当时对选择哪门语言有些纠结，最终考虑到商业背景发展，我选择了普通话。这个选择在当时看来无足轻重，却对我的人生有着深远影响。

毕业时，纽约的低迷就业市场令人焦虑，最终我加入了总部位于费城郊外的先锋集团，这是美国最大的合股投资公司。最开始我在初级职位上接听投资者的电话，虽然很基础，但能很好地让我一边学习业务，一边提升交流技巧。在先锋集团工作了近五年之后，我开始思考未来的职业发展。美国MBA的大部分相关课程，我在本科的时候已经接触过, 考虑到我对中国的兴趣和背景，我选择申请中国最好的大学——北京大学来完成我两年全日制的MBA时光。这个决定改变了我的人生，尤其在北大，我遇见我未来的妻子。

（*Eagle Scout 雄鹰童子军，是指青少年通过各种实践活动和技能训练在身体、精神、智力上的培训，帮助他们增长知识、掌握技能、完善自我、家庭以及所在的社区，成为有责任感、能自立的公民，为将来的社会做贡献。Eagle Scout雄鹰是童子军最高荣誉。）

Hi! I’m originally from Texas in the US, but went to high school in Panama City Beach, Florida. I worked hard at school, became an Eagle Scout, and went to the University of Pennsylvania. I was studying finance, ready to head to Wall Street, until I found that New York City wasn’t for me. At the same time, I needed to get a foreign language credit, and I had already tried French in high school without much interest. On a whim, and with an eye toward a future in business, I decided to try Mandarin Chinese. It was a choice that seemed inconsequential at the time, but had far-reaching implications.

The job market wasn’t great when I graduated and I was determined not to go to New York. So I joined The Vanguard Group, which is one of the largest mutual fund companies in the U.S. and is headquartered in the suburbs of Philadelphia, at the most entry-level position they had – on the phones responding to calls from individual investors. It was a tough job, but there was no better way to learn the business and hone my ability to discuss complicated topics in clear, everyday language. After five years at Vanguard I started thinking about the future, and realized that if I wanted to make a change before becoming a Vanguard lifer in Philadelphia, I needed to do it soon. Having done most of the US MBA curriculum as an undergrad, and given my interest in and background with China, doing a degree program abroad made sense. I pulled out all the stops, and was very lucky to land a spot at the best university in China, Peking University! Two years full time there was life-changing, among other things because I met my future wife there.

【Slide To Read The English Version】

Q.2 为什么选择在中国读MBA ?

Why did you choose to study an MBA in China?

问得好，我在沃顿获得了本科学位，当我进入MBA职业生涯的时候，我已经完成了沃顿MBA课程的大部分内容。考虑到这种情况，再加上我之前的背景，以及我对国际事务的兴趣，特别对中国事务的兴趣，我决定把目光投向国外，投向中国。

Great question – my Wharton degree is undergrad, so when it came time in my career for an MBA, I had already done a big piece of the Wharton MBA curriculum at the undergrad level. Given that situation combined with my prior background and interest in international affairs in general and China in particular, it made sense for me to look abroad, and to China.

【Slide To Read The English Version】

Q.3 在那段时间里，

你对职业规划的愿景是什么?

What was your vision for your career plan during that period?

我想离开费城去体验更多令人激动的国际生活和事业，迫切想要获得一些在政府的工作经验，用来补充之前仅在私营企业工作的不足。尝试不一样的东西，同时在一些小的领域去回馈社会。我能很早地认识到我想拥有的人生方向是非常幸运的。

起初，我希望能在美国财政部获得一个面向国际事务的职位，或者在美国国务院(外交)部门获得一个经济事务相关的职位。你一定想不到我最后拿到了在美国联邦航空管理局(隶属于美国交通部)的一份工作！生活有时会把你带进一段奇怪的旅程，而我已经学会了在机遇降临时保持灵活和开放的心态去面对变化，不管是通过运气还是努力，或者两者兼而有之！

After leaving Philadelphia hoping for a more exciting international life and career, I badly wanted a taste of some government experience as a compliment to my previous private-sector work, to try something a little different, and also to be able to give back to society in some small part recognizing that I was very lucky in terms of where I started in life.

I was initially hoping for an international-facing position at the US Treasury department, or an economic-facing position at the US State (foreign affairs) department. Who would have thought that I would end up at the Federal Aviation Administration (part of the US Department of Transportation) instead! Life takes you on a strange journey sometimes and I have learned to be flexible and open to change when an opportunity comes about either through luck, hard work, or both!

【Slide To Read The English Version】

Q.4 你对北京大学/北京/中国的第一印象是什么?

What was your first impression of PKU/BEIJING/CHINA?

就读北京大学之前，我已经去过中国和北京好几次了。我仍然清晰地记得第一次来到中国最著名的大学——北京大学是多么地激动，当然也不会忘记对于当时只预定了住处的我，在抵达北京机场时的紧张。幸运的是，之前素未谋面的联系人来迎接我了，由此开启了从北大到五道口的这段有趣路程！

I had already been to China and Beijing several times by the time I made it to PKU. I remember very strongly how excited I was to see China’s most famous university for myself in person, but I also remember how stressful it was arriving at the airport with only a basic plan in place for where I was supposed to live. Luckily my contact, who I had never met in person before, was there to meet me and Wudaokou just down the road from Beida turned out to be a fun place to stay!

【Slide To Read The English Version】

Q.5 你做过的最困难的决定是什么?

你是如何做出职业选择的?

What was the most difficult decision to make and how did you make your choice in your career?

在加入美国联邦航空管理局后, 我作为一名金融分析师专门模拟研究人员配置给公司财务带来的影响 (因为当时空中交通管制员密集的培训费用非常昂贵)，我有幸发现自己身处一个绝佳的团队——有着聪明且有同理心的老板及同事，有着明确的工作任务分配，享有良好的薪酬福利待遇及下班后的个人时间。让我在过去的10年里，通过我的努力工作，多次在公司晋升，成为了公认的专家。然而我意识到，如果想要在职业生涯中取得进一步的发展，就应该在公司内部拓展，积累经验。于是我晋级到一个与之前完全不同的团队，帮助联邦航空局管理自己机队的业务，对我可以说是一个重大的变化。完全超出了我的舒适区，这是一个需要不同技能的全新专业领域。做出这样的改变很难，但在与家人交谈后，我们一致认为：我已经做好了迎全新挑战与新环境的准备。

After joining the Federal Aviation Administration as a financial analyst specializing in modeling the financial impact of staffing decisions (air traffic controllers take an extensive amount of training and are very expensive), I was lucky enough to find myself in a fantastic group with the FAA – smart and understanding bosses and colleagues, a clear mission, good pay benefits and personal time, and over 10 years I had worked hard and moved up the corporate ladder several times to a place where I was a recognized expert. I was comfortable – too comfortable. I realized that if I wanted to advance further in my career, it was time to branch out and broaden my experience within the organization. Taking a promotion into a completely different group – this time an operational one helping manage the business aspects of the FAA’s own fleet of aircraft was a major change for me to say the least. Totally out of my comfort zone, and a completely new areas of expertise calling for different skills. Change is hard making a move like that, but after talking with my family we jointly made the decision that I was ready for the next challenge and the new environments I would encounter.

【Slide To Read The English Version】

Q.6 光华MBA对你的职业生涯有什么帮助?

How did the Guanghua MBA help with your career?

光华MBA对我的帮助很大。对我来说，攻读MBA将改变我现有的职业生涯，会让我在诸多领域获得新的学习和发展。此外，拥有MBA学位也可以让我成为许多领域的的专家，像是管理、金融、会计、战略等等。

It helped tremendously. For me doing the MBA was my way of shaking up what I had been doing in my career, and branching off into something different. Additionally, having that credential gives me a significant amount of credibility as an expert in many related fields – management, finance, accounting, and strategy just to name a few.

【Slide To Read The English Version】

Q.7

你认为中国市场和美国市场

最大的区别是什么?

What do you think is the biggest difference between China's market and the USA?

我觉得，就消费者对移动技术的接受程度而言，中国市场现在远远领先美国市场。即使在今天，许多美国人从未用他们的手机购买过任何东西，他们仍然带着信用卡甚至现金(可能有些年长的父母甚至通过写纸质支票来买东西！)。此外，我们还没有像微信这样能集多种功能为一体的应用平台，仍然在使用单一的应用程序发短信、分享图片、进行金融交易、分享视频……我认为在美国也是有很多机会去推行移动支付和便捷性的综合平台的。

I feel that China right now is significantly further ahead in terms of consumer acceptance of mobile-based technologies. Even today many Americans have never purchased anything using their phones, and frequently still carry credit cards or even cash with them (may parents even sometimes buy things by writing a paper check!). Further, we do not have anything like an integrated app platform such as WeChat. We still use one app for texting, another for sharing pictures, another for financial transactions, another for sharing videos, and so on. I think there is a lot of opportunity in the US both for pushing the availability and easy of mobile payments, and for integrated platforms.

【Slide To Read The English Version】

Q.8

你有什么爱好吗?

Do you have any hobbies?

我妻子和我都喜欢旅行。我很幸运成长在一个热爱旅行的家庭。还没有孩子的时候，我和妻子每年都会仔细考虑是否去一个全新的国家旅游。我们会制定计划、攒钱、做研究，然后出发！随着时间的流逝，这已经成为了我一生的记忆，到目前为止，我已经去过50多个国家。它们都有自己的独特之处，但我要说埃及是独一无二的。站在狮身人面像脚下，看着对面吉萨的三座大金字塔和现代的开罗城景，是一幅多么令人振奋的景象啊。而就纯粹的和平与美丽而言，爱尔兰可能要首屈一指。

My wife and I love travel. I was lucky to grow up in a family that loved to travel as well. When I was older before I had children, my wife and I would think carefully about visiting one new country each year neither of us had ever been to. We would make a plan, save up, research, and go! As the years go by over time this amounts to a lifetime of memories and more than 50 countries so far! All of them are special in their own way, but I would say that Egypt was unique. Standing at the foot of the Sphynx looking out at the three great pyramids of Giza juxtaposed with modern Cairo right across the street is an inspiring sight. For pure peace and beauty, Ireland probably tops the list in that regard.

【Slide To Read The English Version】

Q.9

你是如何平衡你的个人生活和工作的?

How do you balance your personal life and work?

平衡总是一个棘手的问题，涉及到年幼的孩子时更是如此！对我们而言，想要事情顺利，最大的关键在于仔细挑选一个与你期待的生活方式相匹配的雇主，无论工资、福利还是个人空间。众所周知，美国联邦政府可以提供这种平衡，我妻子工作的国际组织亦是如此。但当你担任任何组织的高级职位时，无论是否平衡，你的工作时间都会呈指数级增长。

我们最好的办法是保持高度的沟通和灵活性。在我和妻子彼此忙碌的时候，为对方分担一些任务，然后按照Outlook日历来生活：把所有个人和工作相关的事务安排好，且不断更新，通常会细节到当日15分钟内的计划！这当然是紧张忙乱的，但真会给你足够的安全感，把真正重要的事情提前安排好，保证它们顺利进行。

Balance is always a tricky subject – even more so when young children are involved as well! For us, the largest single factor in making things work was carefully picking an employer up front that will provide a likely match to the kind of lifestyle you want to have – both in terms of salary/benefits and personal time. The US federal government is known to have that kind of balance, as are the international organizations where my wife works. That said, as you move into senior roles within any organization, “balanced” or no, work demands on your time increase exponentially. For that that there is no silver bullet fix. The best we have found is a) a high degree of both communication and flexibility between my wife and I in terms of what is coming up in the given week where at certain times I can take over certain duties while she works extra, and then at other times she does the same for me, and then b) both of us live and breathe by our Outlook calendars; everything (personal and work both) is scheduled and updated constantly, often down to 15 minute blocks for the entire day! That is certainly hectic, but allows for things that are really important to be scheduled and blocked in advance enough that you can make them happen.

【Slide To Read The English Version】

Q.10

对于那些考虑在中国学习/工作的外国学生，您有什么建议吗?

Do you have any suggestions for those foreign students who consider to study/work in China?

一个字：冲！在国外待上一段时间会改变你的人生，不仅会为你的职业生涯带来明显的改变或提升，更会以潜移默化的方式影响你。最重要的是，你会发现你的世界观被拓展了，不仅在商业方面，更在饮食、语言和文化方面。走出去，尝试一切、体验一切——如果你是内向的性格，不要把所有时间都花在校园里，走出去看看中国各地。如果你是外向型的人，一定要花时间建立一些深厚的友谊，这将很可能会影响你未来的人生。

最后，带着计划去体验。准备一个实际的计划表，经过思考并写下来，包括：在你短暂的工作时间里，你具体想做些什么?你需要什么资源来实现这一点?你需要认识哪些人?把这些计划分解成“小块”，并猛烈地“攻克”每一块。不要跑偏，让计划逐一实现。

Go! Spending a significant amount of time in a foreign country is life-changing, and not only in the obvious ways of changing or enhancing your career, but in subtle ways too. Most importantly, you will find that your worldview is broadened – in terms of business yes, but also food, language, culture. Get out there, try everything, and experience all of it – if you are the introverted type, resist the urge to spend all your time on campus, go out and see China. If you are the extroverted type, make sure to spend time to develop at least a few deep friendships, they very well might last a lifetime. Finally, go into the experience with a plan. An actual plan, thought out and written down. What, specifically, do you want to get out of your short time there? What resources will you need to make that happen? What people do you need to meet? Break it down into the smallest chunks you can and attack each one ferociously. Then, don’t lose sight of your plan. Make it happen.

【Slide To Read The English Version】

Q.11

你认为中国市场和美国市场

最大的区别是什么?

What do you think is the biggest difference between China's market and the USA?

仍然在世的人？那我会邀请CNN外交事务新闻评论员法里德·扎卡里亚(Fareed Zakaria)。他对每周发生在世界各地事情的洞察力是惊人的，我们的交谈将会是广泛而深入的，即使现在想象这个画面都让我很激动！

任何年代的人?周恩来——一个令人震惊的历史人物，一个生活在动荡时期严于律己的伟人，尤其是他对现代中国崛起的深刻见解是无人可及的。

Living? I would invite Fareed Zakaria, the CNN foreign affairs news commentator. His insights into what is happening around the world on a week to week basis are just amazing. The conversations would be wide-ranging and deep, I am excited even now thinking about it! Any person of all time? Zhou Enlai – what an astounding historical figure, and an absolute master of so many different disciplines in a turbulent time. His insights into the rise of modern China would be unparalleled.

【Slide To Read The English Version】

WHAT IS LIGHT UP

这个专栏的构想，

是一杯俗气的鸡汤。

我们想探讨多元的人格，

想发掘不同角度的美，

想证明成功的定义不只有一种，

想用真实的故事表达：

每个光华人的心中，

都有一缕独特的、无可取代的、自由的光芒。

当许许多多光芒聚合，

我们即为光华。

往期链接：

原标题：《LIGHT UP | Finlay:从美国到中国，从宾大到北大，我遇到了她》

阅读原文